Another Opening, Another Show

Hello friends. Yes, I’ve been gone awhile. I won’t bore you with the reasons for my brief lack of blogging. All that matters is I’m back. Boy, do I have exciting things to tell you!

I’m sure you’ve heard, but Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci opens our season this weekend (tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre)!

Photo by GroovyDoodle Photography

In Pagliacci (“Players” or “Clowns”), betrayal leads to bloody revenge in this story-within-a-story. Canio, playing the role of the clown, is a jealous husband who must bring laughter to his audience even after learning of his wife’s infidelity. Tragic consequences ensue as theatre and real life blur in this verismo shocker. The work features one of opera's most well-known and beloved arias, “Vesti la giubba.”

Sounds better than any reality TV show (and I should know, reality TV is one of guilty pleasures)!

While it’s sung in Italian, there will be English supertitles (so, it’s kind of like watching a foreign film). The opera is accompanied by the fabulous Columbus Symphony Orchestra. And, our friend Christopher Purdy gives a pre-curtain speech one hour before each performance.

Chances are you’ve even heard “Vesti la giubba” or heard culture references to Pagliacci. Here’s some highlight (feel free to use these to impress your friends):

- The music from the famous aria was featured in a 1969 Rice Krispies ad, with the lyrics, “No more Rice Krispies we are out of Rice Krispies.” Entertainment Weekly named it as one of the 10 best commercials of all time.

- The 1954 song "Mr. Sandman" contains the line, "Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci, and lots of wavy hair like Liberace."

- In the 1987 film The Untouchables, Al Capone is attending a performance of the opera, openly crying, when his henchman enters and tells him that he has killed Chicago Police Officer Jim Malone. Capone ceases his tears and laughs quietly.

- On an episode Seinfeld entitled "The Opera", Jerry and Elaine attend a performance of Pagliacci where their stalker disguises himself as Pagliaccio the clown to seek revenge on them.

- The Simpsons had an episode which consisted of the Simpson family going to Italy. The family ended up on stage for a Pagliacci performance with Sideshow Bob trying to kill the whole family as part of the act.

While all these cultural references are dandy, nothing can beat seeing the real thing! Luckily for you, great seats are still available. Prices start at $10 (but you have to buy those at least an hour before each show – preferably long before that)! To order your tickets give my buddies over at the CAPA Ticket Office a call at 614.469.0939 or visit ticketmaster.com. And just because I love my loyal blog readers, feel free to use code SCORE to save 20% off single tickets.

Opera Unmasked

It's that time of year when we're busy putting together our season guide (it highlights all our upcoming shows). This year's theme (thanks to those creative folks at LondyLawrence) is, "Underneath it all, you're really an opera lover." Now, isn't that the (beautiful) truth?!

We needed some photography for the guide and decided to take our own using our friends, colleagues and volunteers. Our first potential dilemma was finding a photographer who would work with our photography budget (budget = nothing). The amazing Meloney and Adam from GroovyDoodle Photography answered our call! They graciously donated their time and talent. Plus, they're pretty groovy and fun people. We all had a blast working together!

Our next potential issue was finding people willing to be models for our guide. While Lisa Wwas a little worried people wouldn't show up (silly girl!), she had nothing to be worried about. Putting out a call for models on Twitter, Facebook, Craigslist, through OC's volunteer groups, sending some e-mail, asking our board members and calling in a few favors we had over 35 beautiful people show up. We had a wide variety of races and ages declaring themselves opera lovers.

To help illustrate our theme we had our models pose with...


...and without a mask (isn't our mini-studio cool?!).
We also shot some amazing photos to use as the main images for each of our upcoming shows (Pagliacci, Mario Lanza Tribute Concert and Romeo & Juliet). While I'd love to share those with you (becasue they are simiply amazing), I don't want to to ruin the surprise.

Stay tuned for updates (and photos) from our season guide!

Breakfast Thrusday

Thursdays might just be the favorite day of the week for Opera Columbus staffers. Why, you ask? Because Thursdays are our weekly staff meetings/breakfast. To make sure there are delightful breakfast goodies to tickle our taste buds we rotate through the staff and everyone takes their turn buying or bringing in breakfast. But, even better than the breakfast treats is the time we have to talk, discuss problems, troubleshoot and brainstorm new ideas.

Whether you're a staff of seven (plus a cow and the occasional office dog) or a staff of 1,000,007 it's important to be on the same page. Eating a meal together allows us to do just that. In fact, our fundrasier "Make Change for Opera" is a product of our weekly breakfast meeting (um, have you donated your chage yet? NO?! There's still plenty of time, click here for more info).

Today while dining at Tommy's Diner on Broad Street (which was AMAZING), I got to share some exciting news: I'm gonna be in the paper! The Columbus Dispatch to be more exact. Yesterday a photographer came to the office to take my picture (which, out of the kindess of my heart, I graciously and humbly permitted Lisa to be in, too) to accompany a story about local arts organizations and their use of social media (a list of most the Columbus arts organizations on Twitter can be found here). We were happy to share our story and why we think social media is so important. I think the article is going to appear on Monday, June 15. Don't worry, I'll let the world know when I make my Columbus print debut.

Press Worthy

You know your Opera Company is in good hand/hooves when your Executive Director is often recognized for his good work. And it's recognition from the well respected business community (how often does that happen in the world of arts?). The staff is thrilled that Press is being honored for being the amazing, fearless leader that we all know he is.

Guess I should get to the point and tell you about the award...

Press received the 2009 Pace Setter Executive Award at a ceremony held on May 14, 2009 at the Blackwell Inn on the Campus of The Ohio State University (OSU).

The Pace Setter Executive Award is an annual award given to a “pace setter” of the business community. The Executive Award is one of OSU Fisher College of Business’ most important awards, as it recognizes the ideals that the school strives to instill in its students. Previous award winners include Irving Schottenstein, Charles Y. Lazarus, John B. Gerlach, Sr., Katherine S. LeVeque and John H. McConnell, among others.

And here's a little background on the amazing man:

Press, 1975 OSU graduate and a Vietnam veteran, has been Opera Columbus’ Executive Director since 2006. During this time, he has helped the organization achieve a significant turnaround in its operation and financial well-being. Press is extremely committed to the success and growth of the Columbus arts community and currently serves as the president of the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium.

From 1975 to his retirement in 2001, Press was with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), formerly Coopers & Lybrand LLP. The last 17 years, he was a partner in the firm’s financial services practice.

Throughout his career at PwC and into his retirement, Press has been active in community service. He held the position of chair/president for nine different organizations. In the mid-1990s, he received the Beta Alpha Psi (Professional Accounting Fraternity) Outstanding Alumni Award. In June 2007, he was recognized by the Ohio Society of CPAs with the Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to the Profession, its highest honor.

Congrats, Press. You rock!

A Columbus Celebration

On Saturday, over 175 people came out to enjoy Opera Ball 25: a Columbus Celebration. As you can see in the video montage above (done by the fabulous Amy Parrish - check out her site here, check out additional photos here and tell all your friends about her), a grand time was had by all. My favorite part of the evening? The Kahiki inspired Mai Tais - they even smoked! It was so cool. I also loved looking at the 30+ silent auction items, encouraging bidding on our seven live auction items, grazing on the food (inspired by iconic Columbus restaurants) and dancing the night away. The next morning my four hooves were still sore from dancing, but the smile was still on my face from the amazing night.

These are the first faces you see as you come into the ball.
Not a bad way to start the evening.

Eric and I took a moment to enjoy the view of the beautiful
Atrium at Nationwide Plaza.

Here Eric and I bid on a fabulous auction item (alas, we did not win).

Here I am talking up the live auction items to Bill Curlis,
one of the Ball co-chairs, and Press.

Here I am enjoying the company of 30+ bottles of wine
(this was our raffle prize of the evening - I'm bummed I didn't win)

Lisa & Ben hadn't seen the dining room, so I
gave them a little tour. It sure looked beautiful!

Chase Away the Rainy Day Blues

In case you didn't know, I'm a bit of an opera geek. I especially love hearing new talent. That's exactly why I'm so excited for our annual Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition this weekend! Twenty-eight talented singers from across the nation, ranging in age from 22 - 35, will be coming to Columbus to compete for cash, prizes and operatic glory (and they'll probably be fighting to get their picture taken with yours truly).

The competition begins with the free semi-finals on Saturday (March 28) at 10 a.m. and lasts until 1 p.m. then it's time for a lunch break. The competition resumes at 3:30 and goes until 6 p.m. From there the judges have to narrow the field to eight singers all of whom will sing on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday's finals cost $10 (and are free to Opera Columbus subscribers) . Tickets are available at the door the day of the finals. We're supposed to have showers all weekend in Columbus so I can think of nothing better to beat the rainy day blues than by listening to some amazing opera singers.

I promise you this year's competition will be one the best yet. We have three amazing judges: Kristin Cowdin (Artist Manager at Guy Barzilay), Diane Kesling (accomplished opera singer and director) and Lenore Rosenberg (Associate Artistic Administrator of the Metropolitan Opera). The very talented Donna Hallen Loewy will be our accompanist for the weekend (her fingers are going to be tired after playing for 28 people on Saturday and eight more on Sunday!).

Best of all, this year's competion is going to be dedicated to our dear friend, Paul Hickfang. Paul has been involved with the competition since it's inception. Paul passed away earlier this year. We miss him dearly and are looking forward to honoring him this weekend.

Special thanks to Johanna, Jeryl, Eric and all our wonderful volunteers for making this weekend possible.

Hope I see you at Weigel Hall (on OSU's campus) this weekend! Seriously, take this cow's word - you don't want to miss it!

Irish Broadway

Let me let you in on a little secret. I love (LOVE) NPR. I mean, I can't get enough. If this makes me a super geek, so be it. I would be lost with out National Public Radio.

This morning I was listening to 89.7 WOSU and I heard the most fascinating story about Naghten Street, the very street on which Opera Columbus sits! My favorite part of the story was learning that the street was once called Irish Broadway. How cool is that?!?! Picture it: lots of green, sparkly costumes, gold tap shoes, top hats... I digress. So, thanks to our friends at WOSU (and information from the historical marking on the street) here's a wee bit o' Columbus Irish history for you in honor of St. Patrick's Day:

Thousands of Irish immigrants came to Columbus to seek personal and religious freedom. With the "Great Hunger" in Ireland and the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the National Road, immigration to Columbus increased in the mid nineteenth century. They initially settled in the north side of the city in the swamp flats, where inexpensive land was available and work could be had on the railroads. Settlement spread to Franklinton, on Naghten Street, later known as "Irish Broadway"- part of which is now Nationwide Boulevard, and to nearby Flytown. The immigrants became domestic workers, civil servants, entrepreneurs, and served the city in police and fire departments. Others were leaders in government, law, medicine, and education. Their legacy continues today in the Irish-American population of Columbus, Ohio.

These are only a representative few of the Irish individuals and groups who were prominent in the formation of Columbus. IRISH IN COLUMBUS BEFORE OHIO STATEHOOD Lucas Sullivant, Founder of Franklinton in 1797 John Brickell, Early settler IRISH IN COLUMBUS DURING EARLY STATEHOOD Thomas Kirker, Ohio's 2nd governor, acting 1807-08 term John Kerr, 2nd Mayor of Columbus Alfred Kelley, Father of Ohio Canals, Ohio and Erie Canal Developer, and Legislator IRISH IN COLUMBUS AFTER THE GREAT HUNGER (1845) Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, St. Francis Hospital Dominican Sisters, St. Mary of the Springs, St. Mary of the Springs Academy William "Billy" Naghten, Columbus City Council President Patrick Egan, Franklin County Coroner for ten terms Jeremiah O'Shaughnessy, Superintendent, Division of Water, Columbus, Ohio.

Cast Your Ballot

So, my blog-reading friends, I have a teeny, tiny favor to ask of you.

Columbus Monthly is a top-notch, monthly magazine here in beautiful Columbus. Each year they have a "Best of Columbus" issue where people can vote on everything from the best Columbus Chinese restaurant to TV anchor to performing arts organization (you see where this is going?). Here's where we need your help. Please take a minute and cast your vote for Opera Columbus as your favorite Columbus performing arts organization. Click here to cast your ballot. It only takes a few minutes and you could win a $100 gift certificate from one of the restaurants voted best by the readers of the poll. Plus you will receive my undying love and affection (and I know that's what everyone really wants).

Oh, and it would be pretty awesome if you voted for "Udderly Fabulous" as the best blog. Just throwing that out there (hint, hint).

For my Columbus-based readers, don't forget it's Restaurant Week! More than 40 Dine Original member restaurants, from casual to fine dining, are participating. Each restaurant has prepared a special fixed-priced menu- some restaurants at $15 and some at $30 (excluding gratuity and tax). I've already been to a couple, and take my word for it - the menus are to die for! It's such an amazing deal!

So, first, vote for Opera Columbus (and "Udderly Fabulous") then treat yourself to an amazing dinner at one of Columbus' best restaurants. You deserve it.

$10 Tickets - Doesn't get better than that!

Just in case you haven't purchased your tickets (tsk, tsk)... I want to remind you that Turandot opens this weekend at the Ohio Theatre. And guess what? You can see this world-class production for as little as $10. Yes, you read that right - $10!!! Basically, for the price of a movie ticket you can see LIVE opera in the beautiful Ohio Theatre. Details about the offer are below:

Opera Columbus is offering $10 rear mezzanine general admission tickets to its upcoming production of Turandot on Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre.

“The economy is affecting us all,” said Executive Director Press Southworth. “During these tough times we want to continue to make sure the opera is accessible to all.”

The $10 rear mezzanine general admission tickets are available by calling 614.469.0939 or visiting TicketMaster.com. Tickets are also available at the door; however, the $10 tickets will stop being sold one hour before each show. The box office opens two hours before each performance.

Reserved seating with ticket prices ranging from $27.50 - $102.50 is also available at the above locations.

Sung in Italian with English Supertitles, Turandot will be performed at the Ohio Theatre on Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. WOSU’s Christopher Purdy will be giving pre-curtain talks starting an hour before the show. Tickets are available by calling 614.469.0939 or visiting TicketMaster.com.

Turandot - Day 1

Moooooooo - opera makes me so excited!

Here I am. Excited & waiting for rehearsal to start.

This is one of my favorite days during production time - the first day of rehearsal. This is the first time all the singers have come together to sing for this production. I was lucky enough to sit in on today's rehearsal. Let me tell you - these amazingly talented artists did not disappoint. Powerful and beautiful voices filled the rehearsal space (which is a church community room - ha, you thought opera was so fancy!).

Press greets the artists. From Left to Right: Gene Allen (Emperor Altoum),
Mark Andrew Baker (Ping), Dean Anthony (Pong), Eric Johnston (Pang),
Othalie Graham (Turandot), Randolph Locke (Calaf), Diana McVey (Liu),
Sun Yu (Timur) & Eric McKeever (Mandarin).

Day one is the only time where the artists sit and sing through their parts. Speaking of parts, they come with their part memorized so they can dive right into the rehearsal process. Which they do almost instantly. Can you believe we mount a full-scale grand opera in only three weeks? That's pretty incredible!

These are the incredible folks that help make the opera magic happen.
From back to front: Ed Bak (Pianist), Bill Boggs (Artistic Director/Conductor/Chorusmaster),
John Hoomes (Stage Director), Kevin Lohr (Director of Production/Stage Manager)
& Alicia Boggs (Assistant Stage Manager).

It's the Holiday Season

Hello, friends. I wanted to write a quick post before I headed back to the farm to spend the holidays with the crazy herd that is my family. 2008 has been a great year for me (and for you since I started this little old blog) and I'm looking forward to an even better 2009!

We're on holiday break (isn't that great?!) until Jan 5. So, I'll be back in 2009 with more fun Opera Columbus stories and Columbus treasures to share with you. Try not to miss me too much until then.

Here's wishing you the very merriest of holidays and happiest New Year.

Happiness is...

...eating at Noodles & Company (Grandview location...although I'm sure others are just as yummy)!

I've mentioned it before, but let me say it again. The OC staff loves to eat almost as much as they love opera. Our lunch destination is usually decided no later than 10:30 a.m. every day. No wonder I love these people so much! One of our very favorite places to dine is Noodles & Company. They have the most delicious, fresh and yummy dishes. The staff top picks tend to be the Pesto Cavatappi and, my personal favorite, the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese. I've heard they are both good with the Parmesan crusted chicken (sorry, Carl). And in my humble (ha ha, humble) dessert-expert opinion they have the best rice krispie treats, EVER!

The Grandview Noodles & Company has something even better than food (crazy, I know): excellent customer service. Their employees greet our staff with a smile and have come to recognize us (kinda like Cheers where everyone knows your name without the booze and add noodles). One time when Lisa wasn't hungry (crazy, yet again) she didn't order anything but a Diet Coke (FYI - don't cross Lisa if she hasn't had at least one Diet Coke. This cow learned that the hard way) Ken, the general manager, delivered the food and asked what she had ordered. When she replied nothing Ken said that wasn't right and brought her out an order of Mac & Cheese.

So, to sum it up... if you're hungry go visit our friend Ken and the rest of the Grandview Noodles & Company staff. And stop and say hi to us because we're there like, um, twice a week (seriously).

Hanging with my buddy Ken. He rocks.

Loving my yummy dessert.

Kevin & I strike a pose and dream of the delicious dish we'll order today.

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

With eight human staff members, a blogging cow and a dog everyone has to pitch in and help out. As we often say, we are each others' support staff. Whether it's hanging up posters, picking up artists from airport or, as in Tuesday's case, completing a direct mail project everyone from the Executive Director on down rolls up their sleeves and gets to work.

I'm not gonna lie, working on big projects as a staff is a lot of fun. We laugh, talk opera, drink hot chocolate and make fun of Lisa's love for Josh Groban. And man, can we crank out a direct mail project! If the opera gig doesn't pan out we always have our mad direct mail skills on which to fall back.

Helping Lisa send things to the printer (and making
sure she doesn't blast Josh Groban's holiday album too loud)

Helping Susan fold letters. Don't forget the pledge form!
Also, are you totally loving my new sweater?
Susan made it for me. She's so talented!

Donna and I stuff envelopes. Donna also wants me to
remind you: As you make your year end gifts, please
consider Opera Columbus. Click here to donate online.

Kevin can label envelopes faster than
anyone I know. Maybe his super powers
come from his sweet handle bar mustache.

It's a Celebration

I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again. Opera people like to party (hence why I love opera people). To celebrate The Pearl Fishers' opening night, Opera Columbus hosted a party at Due Amici. The evening was filled with fabulous friends, talented artists, amazing food and several delicious libations.

Wanna be a part of this fun? Don't miss our Turandot Opening Night After Party on February 20. Pencil it in, more details to come.

With Opera Columbus Board President &
all around great guy, Jay.

With Nick, from Power Shack (our artist fitness sponsor).

With Rebekah, hair stylist and make-up artist extraordinaire.

Vale recognized my talent and insisted I call my agent.
He let me use his phone and gave me some tips.
That Vale is a great guy. The next singing cow role
in opera is totally mine.

With the talented Philip.

With two of my Opera Columbus favorites - Brian and Elise.

Learning a new dance step from our choreographer, Tim.

With new fun and fabulous friend, Julia.

With OC's Director of Production and Pearl Fishers
Stage Manager, Kevin.

With Director of Marketing & PR, Lisa, and our friend, Ben.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Busy doesn't even begin to describe the goings on here at Opera Columbus. It's a good busy though. There is also a certain excitement in the air. After all, The Pearl Fishers opens at the Ohio Theatre one week from today! Hooray! (Seriously, get your tickets now. Rumor has it that this is the best cast we've ever had!)

The artists have been in town for two weeks rehearsing the show. But, it takes more than just the folks on stage to make opera magic. It takes a lot of people working behind the scenes to make sure what you see on stage is the best opera possible.

So my friends, follow me on a pictorial tour of the people that make the opera magic happen.

Artist Transportation & Housing:

Here at am at with Joe of Roush Honda and Kevin, our director
of production.Roush Honda donates rental cars for our
artists to use while they're in Columbus. Looking for a
new car? Need a tune up? Wanna talk to some super
nice people? Then I suggest you visit our friends at Roush.

The whole Opera Columbus staff goes to pick up the cars and
drop them off wherever the artists are staying. Here I am
navigating for Lisa (she tends to be directionally-challenged).

I made a new friend with Nick, the manager of the hotel
where are artists are staying. He was excited to have
our talented artists stay at their hotel and asked
lots of questions about opera.

Costumes/Wardrobe:

For each opera we rent our costumes and they arrive
in boxes. I'm helping sort out all the pieces.

Once sorted, the costumes are hung up, labeled and tailored
to each performer. Donna and Wayne, our wardrobe team do a great job!

I couldn't help it, I had to try on some of the costume pieces. Don't tell.

Marketing/Advertising:

We have a great partnership with the ad agency LondyLawrence. Working
closely with Lisa, our director of Marketing & PR, they develop
creative ideas and marketing pieces. Did you see our beautiful
Season Guide? Yeah, they are the creative genius' behind it.
Looking for an ad agency that rocks? LondyLawrence is your answer.

Clooney, the Opera Dog, and I also provide marketing support.

Wigs & Makeup:

Just this week the wig and makeup team arrived. They have to design
and style about 50 wigs/hair pieces. Here I am giving Chris a few tips.

Here I am watching Christine do her design thing.

Look at all the cool wigs designed and styled by the team from
Cosmic Hair and Makeup. They are amazing and super
fun to work with, too!

Celebrate Good Times

Opera people are fun people. Surprised to hear that? Well, I swear it's true. Opera people also love to party (no wonder I love opera as much as I do). To give people a chance to see the rehearsal process and chat with the cast Opera Columbus hosted a Meet & Greet on Friday. Here are some fun pictures taken at La Chatelaine after the rehearsal. Enjoy!

Here I am with Alicia, the Assistant Stage Manager,
and Kevin, Director of Production and State Manager.

With friends Mike, Andrew and Justin.

With Vale and Willie. I had to try Vale's drink.
Not gonna lie. It was good.

With the fabulous Ed. He's also our rehearsal
accompanist. Man, can he tickle those ivories.

With my friend, Thomas.

With Press, our Executive Director, and
Donna, our Director of Finance.